November 20. Went to Natural History Museum to see Dr. Harry Shapiro, head of Anthropology, who took a poor view of Ardrey. Then had a session with Stan, arguing about early man's vegetarian versus carnivorous tendencies. Stan wants our visitors to turn Man into a carnivore; I argued that he always was. Back at the Chelsea , phoned Ike Asimov to discuss the biochemistry of turning vegetarians into carnivores.
November 21. Read Leakey's Adam's Ancestors. Getting rather desperate now, but after six hours' discussion Stan had a rather amusing idea. Our E. T.'s arrive on Earth and teach commando tactics to our pacifistic ancestors so that they can survive and flourish. We had an entertaining time knocking this one around, but I don't think it's viable.
November 22. Called Stan and said I didn't think any of our flashback ideas were any good. He slowly talked me out of this mood, and I was feeling more cheerful when I suddenly said: 'What if our E. T.'s are stranded on Earth and need the ape-men to help them?' This idea (probably not original, but what the hell) opened up whole new areas of plot which we are both exploring.
November 23. Stanley distracted by numerous consultations with his broker, and wants my advice on buying COMSAT.
December 10. Stanley calls after screening H. G. Wells' Things to Come, and says he'll never see another movie I recommend.
December 21. Much of afternoon spent by Stanley planning his Academy Award campaign for Dr. Strangelove. I get back to the Chelsea to find a note from Allen Ginsberg asking me to join him and William Burroughs at the bar downstairs. Do so thankfully in search of inspiration.
December 24. Slowly tinkered with the final pages, so I can have them as a Christmas present for Stanley .
December 25. Stanley delighted with the last chapters, and convinced that we've extended the range of science fiction. He's astonished and delighted because Bosley Crowther of the New York Times has placed Dr. S on the 'Ten Best Films' list, after attacking it ferociously all year. I christen Bosley 'The Critic Who Came In from the Cold.'
From these notes, it would appear that by Christmas 1964, the novel was essentially complete, and that thereafter it would be a fairly straightforward matter to develop the screenplay. We were, indeed, under that delusion-at least, I was. In reality, all that we had was merely a rough draft of the first two-thirds of the book, stopping at the most exciting point. We had managed to get Bowman into the Star Gate, but didn't know what would happen next, except in the most general way. Nevertheless, the existing manuscript, together with his own salesmanship, allowed Stanley to set up the deal with MGM and Cinerama, and 'Journey Beyond the Stars' was announced with a flourish of trumpets.
Through the spring of 1965, we continued to revise and extend the novel, and threw away-again and yet again– whole sections which we had once imagined to be final and complete. All this time, Stanley was also hiring staff, checking designs, negotiating with actors and technicians, and coping with the millions of other problems which arise in the production of even the most straightforward movie. The rush of events became far too hectic to enter more than a small fraction of them in my log, and few of them (luckily) concerned me directly. My primary job was still polishing the novel, though I was constantly involved in technical discussions with the artists and production staff. (Sometimes with disastrous results; see entry for November 10, below.)
February 9, 1965. Caught Dali on TV, painting in a Fifth Avenue store window to promote Fantastic Voyage. Reported this to Stanley, who replied: 'Don't worry– we've already reserved a window for you.'
March 8. Fighting hard to stop Stan from bringing Dr. Poole back from the dead. I'm afraid his obsession with immortality has overcome his artistic instincts.
April 6. To COMSAT Headquarters, Washington, for launch of first commercial communications satellite, Early Bird.' Introduced to Vice-President Humphrey, who is also Chairman of the Space Council, and told him we were spending ten million dollars to publicize space. Added that one character in the movie would be the Chairman of the Space Council . . . thirty years from now. 'Oh,' said H. H. H. at once, 'I still intend to be chairman then.'
April 12. Much excitement when Stanley phones to say that the Russians claim to have detected radio signals from space. Rang Walter Sullivan at the New York Times and got the real story-merely fluctuations in Quasar CTA 102.
April 14. Reception at Harcourt, Brace and World. Those present included Bill Jovanovich (president), Jeremy Bernstein (New Yorker Magazine), Dennis Flanagan (Scientific American), Dr. Robert Jastrow ( Goddard Space Center ), Stanley and Christiane Kubrick, Al Rosenfeld (Science Editor, Life), Sylvester (Pat) Weaver, Scott Meredith and many other friends. There was a general belief that the party was to celebrate Harcourt's publication of Journey Beyond the Stars, but I explained that this was not definite, and depended upon the size of the mortgage they could raise on the building.
April 19. Went up to the office with about three thousand words Stanley hasn't read. The place is really humming now-about ten people working there, including two production staff from England . The walls are getting covered with impressive pictures and I already feel quite a minor cog in the works.
Some psychotic who insists that Stanley must hire him has been sitting on a park bench outside the office for a couple of weeks, and occasionally comes to the building. In self-defense, Stan has secreted a large hunting knife in his briefcase.
May 1. Found that a fire had broken out on the third floor of the Chelsea . Waited anxiously in the lobby while the firemen dealt with it . . . visions of the only complete copy of the MS going up in smoke….
May 2. Completed the Universe' chapter-will soon have all Part Three ready for typing, hurrah…. Stan phoned to say he liked the 'Floating Island' sequence. Strange and encouraging how much of the material I thought I'd abandoned fits in perfectly after all.
May 3. Finished first draft of the runaway antenna sequence.
May 25. Now Stanley wants to incorporate the Devil theme from Childhood's End….
June 7. Bad book review in Tribune-says I should stick to science exposition and am an amateur at fiction.
Late June. Read Victor Lyndon's production notes; they left me completely overwhelmed. Glad that's not my job. One scene calls for four trained warthogs.
On that note, more or less, I returned to Ceylon after an absence of over a year, and subsequently rejoined Stanley at the MGM studios at Boreham Wood, fifteen miles north of London , in August. His empire had now expanded vastly, the art department was in full swing, and impressive sets were being constructed. My time was now equally divided between the apparently never-ending chore of developing ideas with Stanley , polishing the novel, and almost daily consultations at the studio.
August 25. Suddenly realized how the novel should end, with Bowman standing beside the alien ship.
September 25. Visitors from NASA-Dr. George Mueller, Associate Administrator, and 'Deke' Slayton (Director of Flight Crew Operations). Gave them the Grand Tour– they were quite impressed. George made several useful suggestions and asked wistfully if he could have the model of Discovery for his office when we'd finished with it. Deke was later reported to have said: ' Stanley , I'm afraid you've been conned by a used capsule salesman.' An improbable story-I suspect the fine Italian hand of Roger Caras, Stanley 's vice-president i/c promotion.
October 1. Stanley phoned with another ending. I find I left his treatment at his house last night-unconscious rejection?
October 3. Stanley on phone, worried about ending . . . gave him my latest ideas, and one of them suddenly clicked-Bowman will regress to infancy, and we'll see him at the end as a baby in orbit. Stanley called again later, still very enthusiastic. Hope this isn't a false optimism: I feel cautiously encouraged myself.
October 5. Back to brood over the novel. Suddenly (I think) found a logical reason why Bowman should appear at the end as a baby. It's his image of himself at this stage of his development. And perhaps the Cosmic Consciousness has a sense of humor. Phoned these ideas to Stan, who wasn't too impressed, but I'm happy now.
October 15. Stan has decided to kill off all the crew of Discovery and leave Bowman only. Drastic, but it seems right. After all, Odysseus was the sole survivor….
October 17. For the first time, saw Stan reduced to helpless hysterics as we developed comic ideas. There will be no one in the hibernacula-all the trainees chickened out, but the mission had to go ahead regardless.
October 19. Collected by studio car, and spent all day working (or trying to work) with Stan. Despite usual crowds of people getting at him, long phone calls to Hollywood, and a 'work-to– rule' the unions called, got a lot
